China: An International Journal

This study employs a multidisciplinary approach to understand household education decisions and their implications for gender inequality in education in rural China. Based on a household survey of poor rural counties in Gansu and Hebei and local accounts, the study finds that parents have higher educational expectations for boys than for girls. Household education spending is a heavy economic burden for poor rural households, and school non-attendance rates are higher for girls than for boys in the majority of the counties. School attendance is related to economic burden, gender and other factors, but the relationship differs across the counties.